GB Books

My six year old who has just finished a beginning reader course loved this book. It has repetitive phrases and a fairly simple vocabulary. The pictures support the text quite well and there are only one or two short sentences per page. The book does not have a word list but it was easy to create one of my own. The most difficult words for my son were: friends, right and Lucy. The story is very cute and had my son laughing at the crazy robot. Reese and the Robot are very kind to their friend Lucy so we were able to discuss helping our own friends. The illustrations are whimsical and capture the children's emotions quite well.

I have quickly become a fan of Susan Swan's cut paper illustrations of stories for young readers taken from classical mythology. "Monster in the Maze: The Story of the Minotaur" tells the tale of the Greek hero Theseus. Each year the people of Athens must send fourteen young men and women to Crete to be sacrificed to the Minotaur, a half-man half-bull who lives in the great labyrinth. But this year, when the Athenians are having their lottery, Theseus, the son of the King grabs the last fatal white stone and declares he will end this ghastly tribute by slaying the Minotaur. On Crete the young princess Ariadne decides to help Theseus with his task and sends our hero into the labyrinth with a dagger and a spool of thread.

As told by Stephanie Spinner, this Level 2 (Grades 1-3) book strips the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur to the, pardon the expression, bare bones. We do not learn the name of the kings of Athens and Crete, that the Minotaur was the king's son, that Ariadne never made it back to Athens, and why still using the black sail on the voyage home was a big mistake. But there will be other versions of this tale that students will be able to read as they get older. What is important here is that these books develop a love of mythology in young readers. Swans artwork is captivating, especially when she constructs a three-dimensional maze in which the Minotaur stalks Theseus. The main shot of the Minotaur is especially impressive. Teachers and parents should be forewarned that kids are going to want to try their hand at this type of artwork once they read this book. Fortunately I know such wonders are well beyond my meager talents. Sigh.

Rosemary Jackson's book approaches the difficult and somewhat unusual topic of mother's who are separated from their children from both a personal and philosophical perspective. The author takes the reader through a historical and cultural journey in an effort to understand why it is so difficult for women in this situation. She explains why women who leave their children invoke such extreme reactions, particularly from other mothers. The book is supplemented with vignettes, women who tell their individual stories, each quite different from the other. Even for those readers who find the much of background content somewhat esoteric, they will be moved by the stories of the women, and by the candour of the author in sharing her own story. Definitely a must have for any woman who has, by choice or design , been separated from their children. This book is also highly recommended for students with an interest in women's issues.

I have been an avid Ali fan since the 60's. I remember the Rumble in the Jungle, his gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome and how he "shocked the world" in 1964 by defeating Sonny Liston for the heavyweight title. I always have loved his charisma and enthusiasm for the sport of boxing...now my grandchildren can share in the glory of this true American icon. Gordon's portrayal of Ali is thorough, but written on a level that children will be able to understand the affect that he has had on the world.

Looks like by using the old Rope-a-dope tactic, laying low, and waiting for the right time to buy an Ali book for the kids, was the right one-two combo!

Ryan loves to play soccer (eventhough he might get distracted sometimes on the field)...and his mom loves to go to his games. Unfortunately she's often a little over-enthusiastic. Ryan gets a little embarassed. He cooks up a plan to trick his mom...and then (along with the rest of the team) misses her when he thinks she's not there.

This is a great Easy Reader for a good first grade reader or an average second grade reader. ESPECIALLY if they love soccer.

Cute & expressive pencil illustrations add to the fun. It even covers the thorny subjects of honesty and (obviously) being embarassed over the actions of a parent in language any second grader can understand.

(Soccer Mom's will "aww" at then end...and their little players won't mind!)

Night Flight: Charles Lindbergh's Incredible Adventure: Charles Lindbergh's Incredible Adventure (All Aboard Reading) Good book for elementary students.

The legends of sea monsters are some of the best legends that humans have for the following reasons.

*) As stated in the fossil record, large and ferocious creatures once lived in the sea.
*) Some of those "fossils", such as the Coelacanth, still exist.
*) Until recently, most of the ocean depths were unexplored.
*) On occasion, a creature such as the Giant Squid have been sighted and examined

In this book, Buehr executes a chronological examination of the concept of the sea monsters. Starting with the monsters described in the fossil record, he then moves on to the "sightings" of monsters in the Middle Ages and then proceeds to modern times. Only occasionally does he move beyond the bounds of scientific fact and even then only slightly. The farthest he dwells from sound scientific knowledge is in the last two chapters, when he describes the sightings of the Loch Ness monster and the Moha Moha off the coast of Australia.
As yet, it is still possible that there are additional sea monsters that humans have yet to encounter in the scientific sense. For that reason, books like this are extra interesting. For, given the reasons cited above, they have existed and it is possible, although the probabilities drop with each passing day that they still exist.

My son just finished kindergarten. He knows all of his letter sounds, but they didn't touch the long vowel sounds before the summer break. This is a good beginning reader, as even the tougher words like "drencher", and "splat", can be sounded out. There are some words that I read for my son, as they didn't follow the rules, or they had the long vowel sounds. Reading is somewhat of a "chore" for my son, so this book was attractive to both of us because of the comical situations and boy appeal! The story line centers around a small boy and his huge water blaster. A perfect summer read for the kindergartener or First grader.

This is a nifty handbook that gives an overview of the rocks, minerals, and geology of Texas. It is available through the Texas Beaurau of Economic Geology (UT Austin) four a few (4-5) dollars. I have found it much more useful than most of the commercially published rockhounding guides for Texas. It is a must have for anyone who is interested in collecting or prospecting in this enormous and diverse state. The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is because it is not a great quality printing.

This is a nice little book that is written for a VERY young audience. Although it claims to be for grades 1-3, it is, in my opinion, appropriate for grades K-1.

Each page has a nice watercolor drawing/painting, and from 1 to 3 sentences in fairly large type.

It has a limited vocabulary and simple sentence structure that would make it appropriate for the K-1 student who is using the book as a learn-to-read assignment. However, if you are reading it to them, I think most children above the age of 6 would feel insulted and/or bored if this was read aloud to them.

For example: "They hunted deer and bear. They used animal skins for clothes." And on another page: "Look at this totem pole. It belongs to the Eagle group. Do you see the eagle at the top?"

Of course, there are also some general sorts of inconsistencies that are noted in the industry review above, but these aren't really all that much of a problem. In my experience, most kids will just king of pass right by these sorts of things and don't really notice them and aren't bothered by them.

Overall, this is a good book for what it does. If you want a fairly low-level book for the K-1 crowd, then this book will work just fine.